legal threat
From Interdex, the community-edited guide to the local internet.
A legal threat occurs when someone (Alice) writes something on the internet that makes someone else (Betty) look really bad. It's almost always completely true, but Betty doesn't want anybody to know this, so instead of realizing that the proper response to free speech is more free speech, Betty will legally threaten Alice to take down what she wrote. Because Betty knows she has no actual grounds for legal action, she will also complain to Alice's webhost (Cassandra). Cassandra is usually a huge pussy who is deathly afraid of any kind of legal problems, so she'll almost always ask Alice to remove what she wrote, conveniently circumventing any kind of legal process. However, Betty failed to take into account that other people will find out what she did, thus making her look even worse than she would if she didn't make any trouble over what Alice wrote (Streisand effect).
Legal threats are most often sent via email, indicating that they are not serious business. If you receive a legal threat via courier mail, as is the norm for actual legal action, you've probably pissed off a large business that will make your life unpleasant.
[edit] Phrases commonly seen in legal threats
- "cease and desist"
- "slander"
- "libel"
- "defamation"
- "trademark"
- "copyright"
- "DMCA"
- "international court trial"